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‘The hospitality drew me back’: the joy of the Caucasus

Explorer Levison Wood’s trip over the Caucasus mountains took him 2,600 miles through six countries – with a warm welcome at every stop and barely a western tourist in sight

I spent three months crossing the Caucasus from Europe to Asia. My 2,600-mile journey started in Sochi, Russia, and took me through Chechnya, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia to Iran. Unlike my previous adventures (walking the length of the Nile, the Himalayas and the Americas), this trip wasn’t all on foot. I travelled the way locals do, walking, riding, taking donkey carts and hitchhiking. The hitchhiking was a reminder of my first visit to the region, as a 22-year-old backpacker along the Silk Road.